Eight years is how long Cristian and Kate waited for their wedding day. They met in their freshman year at high school and just went right on loving one another while all their friends’ relationships came and went like top 40 pop songs.
Cristian and Kate are as delightful a couple as I can imagine; the kind who finish one another’s private joke-filled sentences, geek out together over the same silly things, and who, if such a thing is exists, are ‘meant for one another’.
It was as sunny and perfect a Santa Barbara day as I can remember. I arrived early to begin documenting the girls getting ready at the hotel, and was immediately struck by how loving and supportive her cast of bridesmaids were…nicely, done, girls! Way to rock it! It truly moves me to see friends lavishing one another with love and support. Indeed, our lives are enriched so much by such friendships.
Then it was off to Chase Palm park to get the love-fest on’!
The setting: spectacular; the friends and family: thrilled; the couple: radiant. High-quality ingredients for a spectacular wedding, indeed.
Despite that he’s a filmmaker, himself, Cristian, (like so many) gets nervous in front of the camera and doesn’t like his ‘fake’ smile. Armed with this knowledge ahead of time, I took special care to create a fun, relaxed experience for them, so he’d be super comfortable and able to tap into that raw, authentic joy he’s already got for his woman. That’s one of the funnest parts of my work! And we had a TOTAL BLAST running around in the park doing the bride and groom shoot together!
- Reclining on boulders? Check.
- Balancing on picnic tables? Check.
- Playing on the merry go round? Check.
- Gotta break up so you can make up? Check (sorry, private joke).
- Barrel of laughs? Also check.
